Notes From Friends

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For the first time in the 15 years, since we started our Haber Family Vineyards project, we submitted our wines for an outside review.  On the suggestion of one of our wonderful Friends members, we submitted some of our current releases to the International Wine Report. We have never submitted to the many magazine and newspaper reviewers as we deeply trust our followers and we feel they provide our most valuable feedback. 

However, after doing our research on their report and their editor, we decided to go ahead and submit our Howell Mountain and Diamond Mountain District Cabernets and Chardonnay. We are so gratified by their very thorough and honest comments - it makes us wonder why we waited 15 years to have a third party taste our wines!

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98 POINTS - 2016 Diamond Mountain

95 POINTS - 2017 Howell Mountain

94 POINTS - 2017 Chardonnay

95 POINTS - 2018 Chardonnay

 

From some of the great people we've met along the way:

More Comments:

Hi Ron.

I’m writing to you on Christmas day to share a little story with you. My son & son-in-law are in St. Louis visiting from New York for the holiday and staying with us. My son-in-law is not a collector, but he nevertheless loves drinking fine wine from my cellar, so I had opened up a 2005 Bryant, a 2010 Dominus and a 2003 Phelps Insignia. We were tasting/drinking them all, having a good time. After a while, my son-in-law says to me, “these are really good wines, and I like all of them, but could you open up a bottle of Haber, that’s my favorite.”

I said, “sure, we’ll have that with dinner,” which made him happy.

I thought you would enjoy.

I’m hoping you and Sue Marie are feeling well and having a wonderful holiday.

Best regards.

Jeff

Hi Ron,

Thank you for the 2014 Diamond Mountain Cabernet replacement bottle.  We drank it yesterday.

It was a wonderful perfectly aged bottle of Napa mountain cab. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Your wines are uniformly excellent. You are blessed to have Tim Milos and Jim Barbour on your team. We are very happy to be in the Friends of Vineyard program.

Keep up the good work.

Thank you,

-Ed and Kari Taylor 

"As every year, i look forward to the spring allocation.  I'm sure the wines will be exquisite as usual.  You've developed quite a product over the years.  Congratulations!!" - Tommy G.

"I brought Haber 2014 Howell Mountain Cab to Florida along with three other growers. We held a dinner and taste test two nights ago. Yours was the unanimous winner (6 people voting) 6-0 winner. Hopefully we made you some new customers. Great stuff!" - Arthur C.

"Celebrating my 60th with all of the kids back home, started with the Foreplay on the second bottle of Diamond Mountain (decanted in a Haber decanter)and I could not have asked for a better evening. The wine is outstanding making the night even better! Thanks for what you two do!" - Paul S.

"Ron - I am enjoying your 2012 Diamond Mountain Cabernet tonight. The wine has developed wonderfully. Big, rich, and beautiful. Nicely done!" - David B.

"We had a few couples over last night, and out of bottles of 2013 Caymus Special Select, 13 Stags Leap SLV, 2010 Caymus, and 13 Dancing Hares, your Diamond Mountain was the unanimous favorite . . . thought you'd like to know." - Friends Member Joe W.

"Just wanted to pass a quick note that the 2014 Los Carneros Chardonnay is easily one of the best whites I have ever tasted. I was literally shaking my head in disbelief everytime I smelled the wine and took a sip! I also remember buying a Sonoma Coast Chardonnay last February 2016. When I went home to Manila, the waitress at our regular Greek restaurant was telling me and my wife on how everyone in the kitchen remarked how beautiful the aroma was of this bottle. Thanks for always giving my family a reason to celebrate!" - Emil

"Opened a bottle of the 2013 Howell mountain. EASILY the most outstanding Cabernet I've had. Well done!" - Ben K.

"Stellar !! My wife Jeanne and I couldn't resist cracking open one of our newly received bottle of your 2013 Howell Mountain Cab. All I can say is Nirvana was achieved. Thank you. Due props to you and Tim Milos for a great success." - Rolf & Jeanne C.

"Loved hearing from you through your newsletter.  Skip and I are now sharing our recipes and stories through my site www.ydelicacies.com and Instagram at "y_delicacies".  Take a peek at the story about our Napa Wine dinner at http://www.ydelicacies.com/homepage/2014/11/9/napa-dinner.  We hope you all have a lovely holiday season." - Skip and Yvette

"Had one bottle each of your 11's last night. Decanted both about an hour then back into bottle. Wow on the diamond just wow. He Howell was a lot more approachable. And drinkable early. Love them both!" - Howard H.

"On August 7, 2013 my wife and I went to Gary Danko, our favorite restaurant.  We took two bottles of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, one was a 2010 Diamond Mountain Haber Cabernet Sauvignon.  We found the Haber wine stood up beautifully to the excellent food.  After finishing the Haber we opened another "more expensive" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  We felt the Haber wine was more full bodied and flavorful." - Dick and Susan G.

"Just returned from a cruise to Alaska. . . The weather was fabulous, in the mid to high seventies, the glaciers were awe inspiring and the seaside towns we stopped in were very quaint, inviting and friendly.  3 of my brothers, their wives and my mother also cruised with us.  I brought 6 wines with me for them to sample, including Phelp's Insignia, Anderson's Conn Valley Reserve and the mighty 2008 Haber Diamond Mountain.  The Haber DM was THE HIT of the cruise, smooth and delicious! (as anticipated)." - Jerry and Cindy in Nevada

"Holiday blessings to you and Sue-Marie. By the way, to date, your Howell Mountain is still one of the top 4 wines I have ever tasted at any price. We just love it." - Brent in Texas

Charles Yi and Lenore Jiao of N16 Cellar visited us this summer - Charles even helped us out in the vineyard!

"Sue-Marie, we had a great time yesterday at your wine class session. It was very informative and the class format left it open for great exchanges between the participants and you. It also was a much added benefit to have Ron present to share his experiences with the group as well. Thank you both!!" - Albert & Dolores Tirado

"We had 14 people over for dinner last night and did a blind tasting of wines from several regions. The Napa wine was the Haber Howell Mountain Cabernet which was everyone's favorite in the blind tasting." - Michael H.

"{We} were hosting dear friends in from Tampa and I opened a 2007 HM Haber. It was beautiful! Wow! Now I cry as I only have a few remaining." - Tom S.

" . . . my wife Cynthia and I met you guys at a party at Barnett's as you were in the beginning phases of your wine business.  We came and spent a delightful evening with you and Sue-Marie at your home a couple of years later and bought a case of your 2008 Cab.  We had a bottle tonight with dinner and it was absolutely outstanding.  We have enjoyed every bottle over the last couple of years but tonight was really special.  Just wanted to say thanks and hope to see you guys sometime soon!" - Layne M.

"Ron, just tried a bottle (of 2010 Diamond Mtn Cabernet). Delicious. Kudos. Berries, cream and vanilla. Loved it!" - Vito M.

"On August 7, 2013 my wife and I went to Gary Danko, our favorite restaurant.  We took two bottles of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, one was a 2010 Diamond Mountain Haber Cabernet Sauvignon.  We found the Haber wine stood up beautifully to the excellent food.  After finishing the Haber, we opened another "more expensive" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  We felt the Haber wine was more full bodied and flavorful." - Dick and Susan G.

"Holiday blessings to you and Sue-Marie. By the way, to date, your Howell Mountain is still one of the top 4 wines I have ever tasted at any price. We just love it." - Brent in Texas

CellarTracker Community Tasting Notes (average 92.7 pts. and median of 95 pts. in 3 notes)

Tasted by EnjoyinglifeTX on 1/24/2011 & rated 95 points: I began to evaluate this wine only after 10-15 minutes of being opened. The wine is a beautiful rich dark ruby color in the glass. The nose is is amazing and smelling it is just as enjoyable as drinking it. It seduces you into the glass with dark plum and ripe blackberry fruit aromas in the beginning with spice notes of cinnamon and nutmeg evolving into ripe figs, cedar box, and Don Juan Roses and finally to black licorice and suede. The palate is complex as well initially presenting with smooth but intense fruit flavors of black plum, cassis, and ripe blackberries, medium toasty oak, black tea and green peppercorn spice with crushed limestone, and unsweetened dark chocolate evolving to mild dill flavors. It has moderate plus firm tannis with well balanced acidity resulting in a very silky smooth and sexy mouth feel. The finish lasted in excess 90 seconds. I really enjoy smelling this wine just as much as drinking it and consider a huge value at the current price point as it compares to wines with a significantly higher price point. This wine should age beautifully.

Wine Library TV's Gary Vaynerchuk rates 2006 Haber Family Vineyards Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon a 93+. Video review and info.

The Wine Guy

"The Wine Guy" Nelson Tucker rates 2006 Haber Family Vineyards Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon a 94

http://www.wineguyreviews.com/

Taigen Shops features our 2006 Haber Family Vineyards Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon

"...Well, serious it is with deep chewy layers of mocha, black cherry, cracked black pepper and black tea aromatics that carry over detail for detail to the palate. The wine is a keeper and should be decanted at least 2 hours before serving with your next prime rib or porterhouse."

http://www.taigan.com/shops/wineforall/items/9410

From Wine Spectator Forums post by Eric Reichenbach, Wine Director at Twin Farms in VT:
Haber Family Vineyards Wine Dinner

Back in Decemeber 2009, a blind tasting was held here at Twin Farms in which '05 Harlan and '05 QC were the main focus, but an unknown ('06 Haber Family Vineyards CS) was secretly added into the mix.

Each taster had two glasses PER wine - one glass with the wine decanted for 7 hours and the other glass with the wine decanted for ~45 minutes.

All three wines showed really well, but at the end of the tasting, it was unanimous that the "unknown" was the favorite. (Harlan was second and QC third.) I must admit that the results were shocking. I have been fortunate to have had Harlan and QC on numerous occasions. Therefore, figuring out which glasses were the QC was easy. Now, what turned out to be the Haber, I had pegged for the Harlan. The Haber was voluptuous, a descriptor that I typically use when tasting Harlan! In disbelieve of the results, I had another bottle of Haber sent up that week. I put the wine through the same decant (half at 7 hours and half at 45 minutes). My notes from this second tasting were consistant with the first. All I could say was, WOW!!! This is a like a 75-1 shot winning the Derby.

Excited to introduce this wine known to our guests, I have invited Sue-Marie and Ron Haber to show their wine here at Twin Farms. The event will be held on Saturday, August 7, 2010.

There will be a pre-dinner tasting of their 2007 Diamond Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Sue-Marie and Ron will be on hand to talk about their new project ('06 being their first release). At dinner we will be pouring their 2006.

Haber Family Vineyards in located up on Howell Mountain. While their estate vineyard was maturing, grapes for the 2006 and 2007 were sourced from the Diamond Mountain district. Production is small, ~350 cases. The Habers hit the bulls-eye with winemaker Tim Milos! Not only is Tim a really nice individual, but he can make one hell of a wine!

We all know the pricing of Harlan and QC. Please join us and discover the new cult in town! And unlike many of the "California Cult Cabernet Sauvignon", the Haber Family Vineyards CS is in the <$100 range.

An overnight stay at Twin Farms (an all inclusive resort) is required to attend the wine dinner. Please feel free to visit the website - www.twinfarms.com or email me - wine@twinfarms.com for more information.

To learn more about Haber Family Vineyards, please visit www.haberfamilyvineyards.com

Drink in good health!

Cheers!

New wine blogger friends taste 2006 Haber Family Vineyards Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon

We recently hosted a tasting of our first release at our home on Howell Mountain during crush. Our wine blogger guests have written about their time with us. We're grateful for their insights and their time that day and look forward to having them back when we release our 2007 Haber Family Vineyards Howell Mountain Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.

Enjoy these excerpts from their blog posts and click the links to read their full posts:

"While the fruit grew, and the estate developed, the 2006 Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon was released earlier this year. This bottle was decanted the night before our visit, and it was simply stunning. Those of you who know me well know that I don't like the typical overblown overdone overextracted Napa Cab, and this wine was the elegant, silky antithesis of that. I tasted chocolate, smoke and salami in the wine. Or was that the nibbles I was chowing down? Sue Marie put on an amazing spread for us. The wine continued with pepper and subtle blackberry, with juicy plum notes. As the wine opened up further in the glass, and as we ate lunch and drank more, the rich mocha flavors came out to play and evergreen notes teased me. At one point I had an overwhelming aroma of Earl Grey tea, which was followed by fig, black cherry and root beer. I really enjoyed this wine, and for $80 it is worth it. I would certainly buy another bottle to hold for a special (or not so special) wine drinking occasion.." - Thea Dwelle ~ Luscious Lushes Read More

"The bottle we tasted was decanted the evening before and I noticed many changes in the wine as we sampled it. Ron is a fan of mountain fruit and his wine reflects that bold flavor. I detected deep berry fruit but also notes of chocolate and even mint. Sue-Marie laid out a lovely lunch including some roasted figs, which she at first thought too ripe and sweet to serve, but I thought they were just right with the wine." - Marcy Gordon ~ Come for the Wine Read More

"A group of us bloggers sat down with Ron and Sue-Marie at their Howell Mountain summer home to try their first release and enjoy some lunch. The wine tried was the 2006 Diamond Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine shows how good mountain cabs can be. Inky and intense, it exhibited aromas of blackberry, cassis, chocolate, mint, and toasty oak. It showed that earthy, limestone character that seems to me to make Diamond Mountain cabs unique. Firm tannins and balance acidity round it out. Loooooonnggg finish. I expect that this wine will age quite well for years. In my humble opinion, the wine is well worth the price." - Michael Wangbickler~Caveman Wines Read More

Gabe's View

"This 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon has a beautiful dark hue that presents strikingly when poured. Deep, dark, brooding, berry notes lead the nose. Subtle eucalyptus, cedar and vanilla aromas also play a role. The palate is generously flavored and loaded with layer after layer of well proportioned and even keeled, but relentless and intense fruit flavors. Plum, cherry and blackberry are the most prominent. A host of spice notes are present as well. These flavors give way to chocolate covered blackberry and an avalanche of earth that form the core of this wines tremendous finish. This Cabernet has good structure and firm tannins; excellent acidity provides the framework." Read More

CellarTracker Reviews

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